Clippers broken by Thunder — and by Donald Sterling

LOS ANGELES — All the way to the Staples Center loading dock and the most unfair of offseasons, Doc Rivers still was doing it the right way.

The Los Angeles Clippers coach, unlike his team's fans in those final moments of the season-ending 104-98 Game 6 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, wasn't throwing things or shouting obscenities at any referee who dared come his way. He walked slowly and quietly out into the night, the arm of his daughter, Callie, wrapped around him and a look of peace on his face.

But was he angry, incensed that banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling's hateful words sparked this controversy that enveloped his championship-caliber team for these past three weeks? Of course he's angry.

"You've got enough to deal with (in the playoffs), and that fact that we had to deal with this," Rivers told USA TODAY Sports as he left. "Especially focus (from players). That was my whole thing. That's what I was concerned with. You know, it's just the hand you were dealt. And the way I've always lived it is you just deal with it."

This isn't to take an ounce of credit away from a Thunder team that seized these Western Conference semifinals and looks more than capable of unseating the reigning Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook made it happen again, the reigning MVP overcoming a 1-for-7 shooting start to finish with 39 points (on 12-for-23 shooting) and 16 rebounds while his co-star showed rare restraint on an off-shooting night (4-for-15 shooting) and ensured everyone stayed involved with 12 assists.

But anyone who thinks the Sterling saga didn't play a part here simply doesn't understand the precarious nature of the postseason. The basketball matters at hand were taxing enough: a seven-game series win against the relentless Golden State Warriors; a rally from 22 points down to win Game 4, only to collapse in Game 5 and see a seven-point lead with 50 seconds left disappear in a cloud of officiating controversy.

The now-infamous call in the Thunder's Game 5 win that sent Rivers into a $25,000-fine-worthy tirade was proof enough on its own that it doesn't take much to flip the script in a playoff series. And that was one play, mind you. The Sterling mess was a 24-7 saga, one that no dominated their worlds and left their emotional gas tanks dry. There's the ball not bouncing your way, and then there's this.

"We tried to handle it, and Doc did an excellent job handling it as best he could, but there was definitely a cloud over us," Clippers guard Jamal Crawford told USA TODAY Sports as he said his goodbyes to staff members and teammates alike. "It's no excuse, but it was distracting to all of us."

Game 2 in Oklahoma City -- Thunder 112, Clippers 101: Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant (35) drives to the bucket between a pair of Los Angeles defenders during the second half.
Mark D. Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Humor was his way of pushing back against this elephant in the room that wouldn't go away, but there was nothing funny about any of this for the players and coaches who saw this as such a priceless opportunity to win it all. Chris Paul was well aware at the start of this season that he had yet to get past the second round of the playoffs in his nine-year career, but Rivers' arrival from the Boston Celtics last summer brought new hope on that front. Now he'll spend the offseason reliving his horrific final minute in Game 5, and his series averages of 22.5 points, 12 assists and 2.5 steals a game surely will be no solace.

When asked about the second-round curse that has now bit him three times, Paul was understandably defensive.

"I'm going to prepare every offseason like I always do," he said. "This ain't tennis. It ain't just me. We don't play one-on-one. (The goal) is not just to get out of the second round. It's to win a championship. I don't know anybody in our league that plays for the Finals, for the Western Conference finals. That's not enough."

Shooting guard J.J. Redick took less money to sign with the Clippers as a free agent because he saw a chance to win it all, yet he'll no doubt remember his lone bad game — a Game 3 outing in which he hit just one shot in 22 minutes in a loss. All-Star power forward Blake Griffin developed in ways that his critics never thought possible, but it's a safe bet he wishes he could have done more in the deciding game. He finished with 22 points and eight rebounds but fouled out with 2 minutes, 27 seconds remaining and the Clippers down nine. Center DeAndre Jordan blossomed under Rivers' mindful ways and became an impactful member of this core but was mostly kept quiet against the Thunder, averaging 6.7 points and 9.5 rebounds a game with only five blocks.

All of their stories changed with this, though, and it hit them hard by the time it was all over. Rivers spoke to the team, telling them all that they would eventually win it all together. He told them how this was not the end, but the beginning. Silence, numerous players said, swallowed the room.

"The locker room was not very good after the game, in a very sad way," Rivers said. "You know, just watching our guys, it just felt like all this stuff that they've gone through, they kind of released their emotions. That was tough. That was tough for me to see as one of their leaders."

"Was it a small part of the emotional (expletive) that we went through for the last few weeks? Yeah, it was," Redick told USA TODAY Sports. "But you invest so much in every playoff game. Emotionally, it takes a lot out of you. Going seven with Golden State, that was an emotional thing in itself. And then the way we won Game 4, the way we lost Game 5."

Which is precisely the point, of course. There's no room for Sterling in the NBA, and there was no room for the ripple effect he caused in the Clippers' challenge either.

"Look, we're human," Redick said, his eyes pink and welled up. "But I don't want to say (that Sterling) is the reason. I don't want to say that. I really don't believe that, either. I do think that it was a small part of the emotional process that we all had to go through, but we ran into a good team and two guys that played phenomenal all series and we couldn't get it done.

"I didn't think it was going to end this early. I'm shocked. There were a lot of us who were emotional. I think for me, you wait your whole career to play with a group of guys like this, and you just don't want it to end. You picture yourself all season hoisting a trophy at the end. You don't picture this."

The question now is what their picture will look like by the time training camp arrives in October. The Sterling updates will keep coming, this situation not likely to be resolved soon. Should he find a way to stay in this club where he's no longer welcome, Rivers and all the rest will have to decide what that means for their respective futures.

They didn't deserve this, but it's still here. Even if they're not.

"I think I'm prepared for somewhat of a messy summer, mentally at least," Rivers admitted in his news conference. "I just think it's going that way. I have a ton of faith in our league that we'll try to get it straight. But we'll see. .We'll see how it goes. I'll see how it goes."

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Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY